Latest News
AAA Music interview The Unkindness Of Ravens
The Unkindness Of Ravens are busy setting the scene for the release of their upcoming single, the double a-side Virus | Viper.
AAA Music managed to catch up with them for a quick chat, asking them about the origin of their name, how image plays a major part in the larger package of performance, and the process that helped them create their distinctive sound.
Head over there now to read the full interview, download a track off the single and watch the fantastic video for Virus.
Virus | Viper is due for release on 3rd October 2011 via Sonic Fire Records.
If you'd like more information about this, our PR services or anything else, please email info@abadgeoffriendship.com
Introducing… The Birthday Suit
Idlewild guitarist / songwriter Rod Jones, is back with a remarkable new solo project, The Birthday Suit. Their debut album, The Eleventh Hour, is a return to the noisy pop moments that originally established him as a legend in the UK music scene.
Formed with Roddy Woomble and Colin Newton in Edinburgh in 1995, Idlewild spent the last 16 years becoming one of Scotland's most beloved indie rock acts. But after seven studio albums, four top 20 singles and numerous world tours, including supporting bands such as REM, Pearl Jam, U2 and The Rolling Stones, the band decided to take a break to concentrate on their individual solo projects.
With Idlewild currently on hiatus, Rod formed The Birthday Suit with a selection of friends and local musicians. Debut album The Eleventh Hour sees him deliver some of the most passionate, fiery and powerful songs he has ever written. It creates a sound that captures the sound of early Idlewild albums, such as 100 Broken Windows - an album that was recently voted the number one Scottish album of all time by readers of The Skinny magazine.The free album track "Do You Ever?" is available to download now via the A Badge of Friendship Soundcloud page.
The Birthday Suit - Do you ever? by abadgeoffriendship
Rod has been busy the last few years with a range of projects, including working with the Scottish Mental Health Foundation on the “Music Like A Vitamin” shows in 2008, the release of his debut solo album, the folk-tinged A Sentimental Education in 2009 and spending 2010 teaming up with Emma Pollock to bring together artists from Frightened Rabbit, Twilight Sad (among others) on the critically acclaimed First Edition album as part of the Fruit Tree Foundation.
The Birthday Suit will also be on tour from October 22nd which will take them around England and Scotland. Full information and tour dates can be found on The Birthday Suit's tour press release.
The Eleventh Hour is due for release on 11th of November 2011 via Sing It Alone Records.
If you would like a physical or digital promo copy of The Eleventh Hour for review or would like to speak to the band, please email us here: info@abadgeoffriendship.com. Please note that physical copies of the album are very limited.
Sweet Baboo Reviewed on Sourmash Music!
Sweet Baboo's latest EP, Girl Under A Tree, has received a wonderful review from the excellent Sourmash Music.
Intensifying in places and all the while retaining a beauty that we can all comprehend, a triumph to say the least. - Sourmash Music
You can read the full review on the Sourmash Music website.
If you want to hear a track from the new Sweet Baboo EP, you can listen to "The Day I Lost My Voice" on the ABoF SoundCloud page.
You can also check the excellent video on Sweet Baboo's Vimeo page.
Girl Under A Tree, released via Shape Records, is available to buy via bandcamp on limited 10” white vinyl or Download.
If you'd like more information about this, our PR services or anything else, please email info@abadgeoffriendship.com
A Genuine Freakshow release “Our Bodies / New Houses” today!
A Genuine Freakshow are back with the third single - the double A-side Our Bodies / New Houses. The single is released today and is available to download now on iTunes, Amazon, 7Digital and Play.com.
The single showcases A Genuine Freakshow's artful blend of pop mixed with icy soundscapes and blistering walls of noise. Their sound, while impressively focused, covers a range of musical staples, with the group letting influences from Mew to Sigur Ros and The National surface throughout. With a line-up that adds violin, cello and trumpet to the standard rock four-piece of guitar, bass, drums and vocals, their live shows are a master class in how to do epic without slipping into pompous.A Genuine Freakshow are active members in the Featured Artists Coalition and firm believers in the "On Air, On Sale" campaign; despite today's "official" September release date, the double A-side single was also available to download before as individual tracks taken from their debut album, Oftentimes, with the B-side JME D (Jamie Willcox of Pure Reason Revolution) remix of previous single Hopscotch Machine Gun Madness.
The band are also giving away a four track sampler, taken from the aforementioned album, Oftentimes. You can download it by visiting their official site and submitting your details.
The band are also about to embark on a UK tour. For more details, check A Genuine Freakshow's artist page on the A Badge of Friendship website.
If you'd like more information about this, our PR services or anything else, please email info@abadgeoffriendship.com
The Blood Arm UK Tour!
"Playfully knowing indie rock..." - Q Magazine
"The Blood Arm evoke a classic lineage of boho party-rock..." - Uncut
The Blood Arm make their return to the venues of the UK this October for a ten date tour. These shows will give their UK fans the first chance to hear tracks from their recently released album Turn and Face Me.
The tour starts in London and ends in Windsor, beginning at the Windmill in Brixton on October the 10th, and wraps up on the 19th at the live music and indie club night - FAT a.k.a Forget About Tomorrow. Stops between include Southampton, Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow and Birmingham. yet the band are also stepping outside the regular expected stops on the UK touring circuit with performances at the Hop in Wakefield on Saturday the 15th and Winchester's Railway Inn on Monday the 17th.
For a taster of what to expect on the tour, you can watch The Blood Arm's brand new live video for the track "She's A Guillotine".
Our very own Keith Top of the Pops & His Minor UK Indie All-Star Backing Band will be joining The Blood Arm on tour for all the dates apart from the 18th in London and the 19th in Windsor. Keith just released his debut album Fuck You! I'm Keith Top of the Pops which Artrocker Magazine hailed as their Album of the Month for September.
The Blood Arm UK Tour 2011
- 10th October - Windmill, London
- 11th October - Joiners Arms, Southampton
- 12th October - Lazy Genius Club Night @ Mojo, Liverpool
- 13th October - Ruby Lounge, Manchester
- 14th October - Captain Rest, Glasgow
- 15th October - The Hop, Wakefield
- 16th October - The Rainbow, Birmingham
- 17th October - Railway Inn, Winchester
- 18th October - Madame Jojo's, London Soho
- 19th October - FAT - Forget About Tomorrow, Windsor
Turn and Face Me's release earlier this summer saw reviewers everywhere making positive noises about the band's latest release. Uncut said the band "evoke a classic lineage of ramshackle boho party-rock" whilst WORD compared the band's chorus' to the similarly "lyrically smart" Arctic Monkeys.
Download the free MP3 "Introducing Randy Newman", from Turn and Face Me, from the ABoF Soundcloud page.
The Blood Arm - Introducing Randy Newman by abadgeoffriendship
Don't forget to also check out the video for "Relentless Love", also available on YouTube. This was the first single to be released from the album during the summer.